Login

All Change!

With this new site design, we've changed the whole login system to be more reliable. If this is the first time you're attempting to login since the site redesign you will need to request your password via the 'lost username/password' tab. Usernames remain the same.

Create Account

Enter your email address.

Enter a username of 5 characters or more.

Enter a password (minimum 5 characters).

Repeat your password.

Sign me up for the occasional newsletter

Username or Password Reminder

For security we don't send your username and password in the same email. If you no longer have access to the email you registered with, contact publisher@broadwaybaby.com

John Pendal: Religion is the same as kinky sex

Former International
Mr Leather, John Pendal compares organised religion with the fetish world. And
finds plenty of overlap.

What unites us is far greater than what divides us, so treat everyone with respect. For some reason, in 2016, that seems more relevant than ever.

My Edinburgh show this year is the
true story of how I went from a conservative Christian upbringing to being the
only British winner of a competition in America called
“International Mr Leather”, which made me an ambassador for kinky sex
around the world. I didn’t know much about it so I had a very steep learning
curve – and this show reveals how I won the competition and some of the things
I discovered on my travels.

My upbringing actually helped me win,
as the speech I gave to a crowd of 3,000 people at the final was all about the
similarities between organised religion and the fetish world. (
“Some parts of our community have choirs … and
a large number of you enjoy spending time on your knees.”
)

Both groups are broad communities that
welcome people from any background. At a church or a leather club you can find
people with right and left wing political beliefs, wealthy mixing with poor, and
people who are so disorganised they could be anarchists working on committees
with others “who are a bit spreadsheety”. That makes them both susceptible to
discord and splits.

A decade on I’m using those skills developed
working with different people in my comedy career. I have a spreadsheet of
jokes divided into seven columns: international audiences, young people, stags
& hens, nice people in village halls, big lumps at the bar, normal people
and the last column is “gay, kinky or American”. Come to think of it, I may be
one of those people who are a bit spreadsheety.

At the end of my competition speech I
suggested that the solution was to remember that what unites us is far greater
than what divides us, so treat everyone with respect.